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Sunday, 20 June 10
OUR COAL: ITS DEVELOPMENT AND CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES
 Indonesia’s production of coal has been growing amazingly. In the mid 1980s, national coal production was less than 1 million tons per annum, whereas energy planners (in the fourth Five Year Development Plan: 1989-1994) pointed at 10 million tons as the national production target.
The current production has jumped dramatically, recorded as 237 million tons in 2008 (predicted to achieve 270 million tons this year), making Indonesia a world class producer and the largest exporter of coal around the globe. The skyrocketing growth of our coal production has also incited many controversial issues.
Coal is considered as the dirtiest among fossil fuels, making environmentalists oppose their wide use
as fuel.
However, the proposal for ceasing use of coal — power generation, for instance — would be challenged by power utilities demanding low cost fuel that coal may offer and by the government, which has the responsibility to provide electricity as well as have revenue from exploiting its energy resources.
Despite the world’s rising anxiety of global warming, IEA (International Energy Agency: World Energy Outlook 2009) statistics shows that the world consumption for coal, for the last decade, is still growing the fastest among primary energy sources.
The environmental problem associated with coal in Indonesia is not limited to green houses gases (GHG), but also damage and pollution since its exploitation, transportation and uses to post mining.
It is easy to find where many coal fields are not mined appropriately according to “good mining and environmental practices”, coal transportation is not considering safety standards and is damaging rivers, (public) roads and seashores.
The coal mining has polluted the land, water and air of especially Kalimantan, where more than 90 percent of Indonesia’s coal mining operations take place.
It is sad that many of the previous mining areas have been abandoned without being properly reclaimed, whereas thousands of hectares of the island’s tropical forests have been converted into desert.
The soaring exploitation, including its negative impact on the environment, has a strong correlation with the number of licensing/permits awarded.
The introduction of the 1999 Regional Autonomy Law, subsequently followed by the 1999 Fiscal Balancing Law between the Central and Regional Governments have — to some degree — impacted on the coal licensing regime, where larger authorities had been given to regional/local governments.
Under the new licensing regime by local governments, requirements for coal permits tend to be relaxed whereas monitoring has not been done properly.
As a result, the number of permits (Mining Authorization/KP) has been growing considerably (currently 462, of which 169 are producing), coal production increases, but also environmental problems and the issues of illegal mining exist.
The question of who really owns the KP licenses exists, which was defined as that it can be owned by Indonesian national/companies only.
While the largest part of coal in Indonesia are being produced by large companies (the holders of Coal Contract of Work/PKP2B), some coal is mined by small scale and illegal miners.
It is believed that a significant amount of coal has been produced by illegal miners (some 5 million tons annually) and part has gone to meet export demand.
Wherever in the world, illegal miners lack interest in responsible mining and mine rehabilitation practices. Illegal mining is a problem for potential investors, the environment and government revenues.
The government has introduced measures to crack down on problems, including arresting illegal miners.
However, it cannot be the only solution since illegal mining is actually rooted in underemployment, local poverty and weak law enforcement, while the number of people involved in these activities is quite significant.
An alternative to confrontation to illegal miners by the central government (who awards the large scale PKP2B mining license) should be a cooperative and more comprehensive approach.
“Despite the world’s anxiety of global warming, IEA statistics shows that the world consumption for coal is still growing the fastest among primary energy sources.”
Work together with local/rural governments and communities to reduce poverty, educate/assist the illegal miners to increase their awareness on good mining practices (including mine rehabilitation), provide transition period fiscal incentives to encourage illegal mining toward the regulated mining sector, among others.
It needs to maintain an appropriate balance between the soaring exports of coal (about three quarters of production on average) and the domestic growing demand for the same fuel.
Push for exports is still coming largely from the traditional East Asians (Japan is the largest), while the coal-hungry India and China are also increasing their demand for our coal.
The exports will be competed with by the Blue Print for Energy Management 2005-2025 pointing out that one third of Indonesia’s energy primary energy mix in 2025 is to be supplied by coal, (the current share is about 15 percent).
Even though it is often mentioned that our coal reserves are quite large (current proven reserves of 5.5 billion tons; estimated resources of 105 tones) and that our reserves for coal are much larger than that of oil and gas, we should watch their fast rate of exploitation cautiously.
It needs to recalculate the benefit of exploiting them, taking into account their damage to the environment and what is left post mining. Where have all the revenues from exploiting that coal gone? Is the escalating export not jeopardizing the domestic energy security in the near future?
We have ample experiences, for instance in exploiting the resources-rich Kalimantan. The forests, oil and gas reserves have been exploited for about four to five decades, but it seems that the island has not enjoyed the fruits of the excessive exploitation: the current regional economy remains weak, infrastructure is poor and energy supplies for local uses have not been secured.
It needs to promote the terms “resources balance, depletion, sustainability”, start internalizing the costs of environmental impact and enforce those concepts into workable policies for our coal mining development.
The writer is the senior energy planner and an economist with the National Development Planning Agency. The opinions expressed are his own.
Source: The Jakarta Post ( Hanan Nugroho)
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Wednesday, 07 March 12
ASSESS ASIAS POTENTIAL, DEVELOPMENTS AND APPETITE FOR SHALE AT SHALE GAS SUMMIT
Press Release - Assess Asia’s Potential, Developments and Appetite for Shale at Shale Gas Summit on 23-24 Apr, 2012 in Beijing
China is rep ...
Wednesday, 07 March 12
3RD MOZAMBIQUE COAL CONFERENCE
3rd Mozambique Coal Conference
2-4 July 2012 | Joaquim Chissano International Conference Centre , Maputo, Mozambique
http://www.immevents.com/mo ...
Wednesday, 07 March 12
DRY BULK MARKET KEEPS UP TIMID REBOUND - NIKOS ROUSSANOGLOU, HELLENIC SHIPPING
The dry bulk market has kept its rising momentum yesterday, rising for the eighth straight session, on the back of renewed demand for smaller bulk c ...
Wednesday, 07 March 12
BUKIT ASAM EYES 39% RISE IN COAL SALES - INSIDER STORIES
Insider Stories reported that, PT Bukit Asam Tbk is scouting a 39% increase in coal sales volume to 18.66 million tons this year from last year with ...
Wednesday, 07 March 12
PETROSEA SEALS US$188 MIO CONTRACT - INSIDER STORIES
Insider Stories reported that, coal mining contractor PT Petrosea Tbk has secured a US$188 million additional contract from its affiliated firm PT S ...
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- Kohat Cement Company Ltd. - Pakistan
- PTC India Limited - India
- Indian Energy Exchange, India
- Indo Tambangraya Megah - Indonesia
- Star Paper Mills Limited - India
- Port Waratah Coal Services - Australia
- Economic Council, Georgia
- Aditya Birla Group - India
- PetroVietnam Power Coal Import and Supply Company
- Directorate Of Revenue Intelligence - India
- Mjunction Services Limited - India
- New Zealand Coal & Carbon
- Standard Chartered Bank - UAE
- Energy Development Corp, Philippines
- Attock Cement Pakistan Limited
- OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd - India
- Eastern Coal Council - USA
- SMC Global Power, Philippines
- Holcim Trading Pte Ltd - Singapore
- Bhoruka Overseas - Indonesia
- Banpu Public Company Limited - Thailand
- Sojitz Corporation - Japan
- LBH Netherlands Bv - Netherlands
- Vedanta Resources Plc - India
- Baramulti Group, Indonesia
- San Jose City I Power Corp, Philippines
- Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- Bukit Makmur.PT - Indonesia
- Bangladesh Power Developement Board
- Indonesian Coal Mining Association
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
- Eastern Energy - Thailand
- SMG Consultants - Indonesia
- Directorate General of MIneral and Coal - Indonesia
- Agrawal Coal Company - India
- CIMB Investment Bank - Malaysia
- Kobexindo Tractors - Indoneisa
- Lanco Infratech Ltd - India
- Iligan Light & Power Inc, Philippines
- Pendopo Energi Batubara - Indonesia
- GAC Shipping (India) Pvt Ltd
- Dong Bac Coal Mineral Investment Coporation - Vietnam
- Mintek Dendrill Indonesia
- Price Waterhouse Coopers - Russia
- Karaikal Port Pvt Ltd - India
- Formosa Plastics Group - Taiwan
- Energy Link Ltd, New Zealand
- Ind-Barath Power Infra Limited - India
- MS Steel International - UAE
- European Bulk Services B.V. - Netherlands
- Bayan Resources Tbk. - Indonesia
- Binh Thuan Hamico - Vietnam
- Commonwealth Bank - Australia
- Cement Manufacturers Association - India
- GVK Power & Infra Limited - India
- The University of Queensland
- IEA Clean Coal Centre - UK
- Timah Investasi Mineral - Indoneisa
- Alfred C Toepfer International GmbH - Germany
- London Commodity Brokers - England
- Pipit Mutiara Jaya. PT, Indonesia
- Central Electricity Authority - India
- VISA Power Limited - India
- Rio Tinto Coal - Australia
- Global Coal Blending Company Limited - Australia
- Kalimantan Lumbung Energi - Indonesia
- Minerals Council of Australia
- Global Green Power PLC Corporation, Philippines
- AsiaOL BioFuels Corp., Philippines
- TeaM Sual Corporation - Philippines
- Thiess Contractors Indonesia
- Sree Jayajothi Cements Limited - India
- Siam City Cement - Thailand
- White Energy Company Limited
- Toyota Tsusho Corporation, Japan
- Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk - Indonesia
- Bulk Trading Sa - Switzerland
- SN Aboitiz Power Inc, Philippines
- Deloitte Consulting - India
- Anglo American - United Kingdom
- Bhushan Steel Limited - India
- Semirara Mining and Power Corporation, Philippines
- Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, - India
- Asia Pacific Energy Resources Ventures Inc, Philippines
- Meralco Power Generation, Philippines
- Ceylon Electricity Board - Sri Lanka
- Power Finance Corporation Ltd., India
- Independent Power Producers Association of India
- Edison Trading Spa - Italy
- Ambuja Cements Ltd - India
- Dr Ramakrishna Prasad Power Pvt Ltd - India
- Vizag Seaport Private Limited - India
- Billiton Holdings Pty Ltd - Australia
- Electricity Authority, New Zealand
- Sindya Power Generating Company Private Ltd
- Mercator Lines Limited - India
- Petron Corporation, Philippines
- Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission - India
- TNB Fuel Sdn Bhd - Malaysia
- Antam Resourcindo - Indonesia
- Orica Mining Services - Indonesia
- Latin American Coal - Colombia
- PowerSource Philippines DevCo
- Africa Commodities Group - South Africa
- Asmin Koalindo Tuhup - Indonesia
- Interocean Group of Companies - India
- Goldman Sachs - Singapore
- Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand
- The State Trading Corporation of India Ltd
- Gujarat Mineral Development Corp Ltd - India
- Vijayanagar Sugar Pvt Ltd - India
- Siam City Cement PLC, Thailand
- International Coal Ventures Pvt Ltd - India
- Medco Energi Mining Internasional
- Meenaskhi Energy Private Limited - India
- Sical Logistics Limited - India
- Larsen & Toubro Limited - India
- Ministry of Mines - Canada
- Simpson Spence & Young - Indonesia
- Petrochimia International Co. Ltd.- Taiwan
- Grasim Industreis Ltd - India
- Wood Mackenzie - Singapore
- Singapore Mercantile Exchange
- Romanian Commodities Exchange
- GMR Energy Limited - India
- Bahari Cakrawala Sebuku - Indonesia
- Uttam Galva Steels Limited - India
- Sakthi Sugars Limited - India
- Metalloyd Limited - United Kingdom
- Wilmar Investment Holdings
- Kartika Selabumi Mining - Indonesia
- Savvy Resources Ltd - HongKong
- Xindia Steels Limited - India
- Mercuria Energy - Indonesia
- Karbindo Abesyapradhi - Indoneisa
- Jorong Barutama Greston.PT - Indonesia
- McConnell Dowell - Australia
- Coastal Gujarat Power Limited - India
- Indika Energy - Indonesia
- Madhucon Powers Ltd - India
- Bukit Baiduri Energy - Indonesia
- Marubeni Corporation - India
- Bhatia International Limited - India
- Krishnapatnam Port Company Ltd. - India
- Orica Australia Pty. Ltd.
- Gujarat Sidhee Cement - India
- Barasentosa Lestari - Indonesia
- Jaiprakash Power Ventures ltd
- Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited - India
- Tata Chemicals Ltd - India
- Coalindo Energy - Indonesia
- Videocon Industries ltd - India
- Thai Mozambique Logistica
- Kepco SPC Power Corporation, Philippines
- Parry Sugars Refinery, India
- Malabar Cements Ltd - India
- India Bulls Power Limited - India
- Kideco Jaya Agung - Indonesia
- Carbofer General Trading SA - India
- Central Java Power - Indonesia
- GN Power Mariveles Coal Plant, Philippines
- South Luzon Thermal Energy Corporation
- Coal and Oil Company - UAE
- Filglen & Citicon Mining (HK) Ltd - Hong Kong
- Samtan Co., Ltd - South Korea
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited
- Offshore Bulk Terminal Pte Ltd, Singapore
- Intertek Mineral Services - Indonesia
- Bharathi Cement Corporation - India
- Cigading International Bulk Terminal - Indonesia
- Renaissance Capital - South Africa
- IHS Mccloskey Coal Group - USA
- Essar Steel Hazira Ltd - India
- Maheswari Brothers Coal Limited - India
- Kapuas Tunggal Persada - Indonesia
- Borneo Indobara - Indonesia
- Ministry of Finance - Indonesia
- Makarim & Taira - Indonesia
- CNBM International Corporation - China
- ICICI Bank Limited - India
- ASAPP Information Group - India
- Tamil Nadu electricity Board
- Posco Energy - South Korea
- Aboitiz Power Corporation - Philippines
- Georgia Ports Authority, United States
- Heidelberg Cement - Germany
- Therma Luzon, Inc, Philippines
- The Treasury - Australian Government
- Sinarmas Energy and Mining - Indonesia
- Oldendorff Carriers - Singapore
- Dalmia Cement Bharat India
- Planning Commission, India
- Jindal Steel & Power Ltd - India
- Trasteel International SA, Italy
- Miang Besar Coal Terminal - Indonesia
- Globalindo Alam Lestari - Indonesia
- Chamber of Mines of South Africa
- Indogreen Group - Indonesia
- Altura Mining Limited, Indonesia
- Straits Asia Resources Limited - Singapore
- Manunggal Multi Energi - Indonesia
- Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd - Australia
- Sarangani Energy Corporation, Philippines
- Global Business Power Corporation, Philippines
- Australian Coal Association
- Riau Bara Harum - Indonesia
- Chettinad Cement Corporation Ltd - India
- Australian Commodity Traders Exchange
- Ministry of Transport, Egypt
- Truba Alam Manunggal Engineering.Tbk - Indonesia
- Kaltim Prima Coal - Indonesia
- Parliament of New Zealand
- Merrill Lynch Commodities Europe
- Kumho Petrochemical, South Korea
- PNOC Exploration Corporation - Philippines
- Salva Resources Pvt Ltd - India
- Semirara Mining Corp, Philippines
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